Alums and friends among 2011 IRNE nods

A number of BPT alums and friends appear on the list of IRNE nominations, announced earlier this week.

Lydia Diamond’s Stick Fly (produced last spring at the Huntington) is nominated in the Best Play (large theatre) and Best New Play categories. Lydia is also nominated in the Best Play (small theatre) category (along with fellow alums John Kuntz and Melinda Lopez) for her contribution to Company One’s Grimm. The Underground Railway production of Lydia’s Harriet Jacobs is also represented in some of the acting categories.

Melinda’s play From Orchids to Octopi (produced by Underground Railway Theatre last season) is nominated in the Best Play (small theatre) category, as is Brian Tuttle’s Her Red Umbrella (11:11 Theatre Company).

On stage, Alice Duffy was nominated for her performance in BPT’s production of Michael Towers’ Five Down, One Across; Steven Barkhimer’s performance in Gloucester Stage’s Table Manners is nominated in the Best Actor, Drama category.

And, of course, the nominees include so many of our favorite actors, technicians, designers, and other theatre artists that you really just need to review the whole stinkin’ list. Congratulations everyone!!!

Why lasagna?

Mmmmm... Kate's lasagna!

What did they eat at that long dinner table in O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness?  What meal was served in Theresa Rebeck's and Alex Gerston's Omnium Gatherum?  Do the actors eat that turkey dinner in Tracy Letts's August, Osage County, or is it a fake turkey and stale bread?  Haven't you wondered?  Well, now I can let the secret out of the bag.  In Mike Towers play Five Down, One Across, for example, his characters eat lasagna.  In fact, not only do they eat it, they compete about who's got the best recipe!  Yes, we see them eating, but WHAT are they eating?  I'll tell you.  Are you ready?   WAIT FOR IT....They're eating lasagna.  And not just any lasagna, it's MY lasagna!  Well, it's the Moosewood Cookbook's vegetarian lasagna, but it comes from my kitchen.  I made two batches--one for the first two weeks of performance, and one for the last two weeks (yes, we freeze them).  I've begun to like cooking noodles and layering cheese.  It comes easy to me.  (Easier than writing plays, so I may change professions.)  Part of what you see onstage is glue and lacquered noodles not touched by the actors' forks, and the other part is edible, recently unfrozen Moosewood (a la Kate's Kitchen) lasagna measured out nightly by the loving hands of our wonderful stage manager Marsha.  She's got it down to a science.  I wish I did.  My next goal is to talk Michael into writing a play WITHOUT lasagna in it.  No turkeys, no mashed potatoes, no food of any kind.  I wonder what that play would be about?  Mike? 
Kate

Laundry

Laundry. Think about it. It has got to be done, whether we're in the theatre or not, and I have to say I've learned more about polyester, cotton, and silk from picking up the slack in theatre laundry duties than my mother ever taught me.

How do you get fake blood out of a shirt? I can tell you. Better yet, I can SHOW you. Answer: You spray the blood stain with Oxy-Clean, let it stand, then you wash that off with cold water and soak the shirt in bleach. If all else fails, you buy another shirt.

What do you do when a dress has to be dry cleaned, and you have 8 hours to do it? Answer: You don't dry clean it (you can't--no dry cleaning shop will get it back to you on time), you spray it with Dryel. If that fails, you spray it with vodka and hope for the best. (Vodka is good for so many things in the theatre.)

What do you do when the theatre has no washer/dryer in which to do the laundry on a nightly basis during a performance? (This happens to be the case at BPT.) Answer: First, you try your best to get someone else to do it. Believe me, there are many excuses for not doing the laundry--"Sorry, I don't live near a laundromat"; "Sorry, I'm not coming in tomorrow"; "Sorry, my dog ate my washer/dryer." If all else fails, you take the laundry home overnight and bring it back to the next performance. Why? Because you love the actors! At the very least they deserve a clean shirt to wear tomorrow. I love this 5Down, 1Across cast and crew, so when they need my expert laundry skills, I'm there for them. Yes, I'm an Artistic Director, and yes, I can wash clothes, and yes, I'm good at it.

If you hate the thought of an Artistic Director washing out the actors' dirty laundry, get over it! (There are no small jobs, only small artistic directors.) Or you can buy us a stackable washer/dryer. We'll name them after you. We'll put up a plaque. "Donated by Fill-In-Your-Name, a kind and generous person who couldn't stand the thought of Kate doing laundry." Or something like that.

In either case, I'm happy. In some small way, I've helped. And the world is better.
Kate

"Ahhh, yeah, sometimes this theater thing turns into a bit of a blood sport, doesn’t it?"

Boston Globe preview article for Five Down, One Across by Michael Towers. Read the entire article here.

It’s been very surreal

It’s been very surreal.

Building a production in a space that once was the classroom. Theory becomes practice. The place of inspiration and debate is now the playing field...the construction site. I miss my classmates. Their voices rattle on my brain. I turn hoping to see them. No such luck. I’m on my own now. Unfamiliar territory.

Coincidence reveals itself. Chloe’s physician’s name is Dr. Patel (the same as Betty-the character she plays.) Alice spent twelve years in Catholic School but is miraculously free of the life determining guilt that accompanies so many years of indoctrination. She must have been absent the day the nuns secretly injected that strand of DNA. And turns out Jessica has an interesting and remarkably appropriate background in wine…a product of some plan “B” training she explored years ago.

Last night, on my drive in, my ears were pricked by a song that I naively presumed was Pink Floyd’s, “The Wall.” Right band. Right album. Not quite the title track. It was even better than I had hoped. The song’s title (I learned ex post facto) was: “Mother.” The lyrics that nearly drove me into the breakdown lane of Route Two couldn’t have been any more in concert with my protagonist’s story…and her struggle with her mother.

Momma's gonna make all of your nightmares come true

Momma's gonna help build the wall

Mother, do you think she's good enough for me?

Mother, do you think she's dangerous to me?

Momma's gonna check out all your girlfriends for you

Momma won't let anyone dirty get through

Coincidence and inspiration abound.

Have to use it. -- Michael Towers

There's a new coat of paint in the hallway (thank you, Patrick and Marc), and our senior workstudy Ashley is showing our new admin intern Adrien paperwork road--

We're working on a discount for BPT ticket holders with our new neighbors at Blue State Coffee - a great idea for a company. Check them out the next time you're by the theatre -- even more caffeinated playwrights this semester!

Also, Mike sent out our first press release for 5 Down 1 Across. You can find it here. -- Jake